Crowdmind Interview: Spunkee Monkee – When the great idea meets great community

Empowering the Crowds means much more than simple curation. One of our ambitions is to promote the great Steemians who are not only producing good content but also contribute to the development of the whole ecosystem. Today, we had a pleasure to talk with @dreemsteem – brilliant blogger who is actively engaged in many different projects. But the main reason for our interview was the story about her idea which found the support among the fellow Steemians and becomes the reality.

The name of the DApp is Spunkee Monkee, but you can’t even imagine how much incredible energy is hidden behind it. Few hours before publishing this article, she told us that it will be launched on the blockchain today, so we won’t let you wait – let’s hear what she has to say.

CM: Our mission is to empower the Wisdom of the Crowd. But every great crowd is made from great people. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who is the person behind the @dreemsteem nickname, what are you doing in your offline life? What Steem as blockchain means to you?

In the two years and two days I’ve been on Steemit, I’ve been anonymous! I’m thinking about breaking my anonymity soon – but for now, I’ll tell you a few general things about myself. I’m a mom, a writer, a creative, an entrepreneur, an analyzer, a dreemer (notice the double E’s), and a Steem-lover! To me, Steem is a place where I came unwillingly. Truly! I didn’t want to believe in another project that might fail. I didn’t want to invest in learning HOW to understand a new platform. I’ve been here since November of 2016, and the only regret that I have is that I didn’t come months sooner! This has been an amazing project that provides real opportunities for people all over the world. The community is bar-none! You’ll find peaks and valleys – just like you would in every other environment. However, I find that if you surround yourself with quality people that invest in the platform, community and the future of Steem, you’ll enjoy it and find it a worthwhile investment.

CM: Spunkee Monkee sounds like a great fun. But there is so much behind it. How would you describe it in a few sentences?

The best way to describe it in a few sentences is: An online treasure hunt where we come alongside families to equip their children with the tools to prepare them for life. They do tasks related to these five focuses: Health, Environment, Hobbies, Future Career, and Service. Each day, as they complete these tasks, they earn points that can be redeemed for chances to dig up prizes on the treasure map. As they are searching for online treasures and rewards from the treasure map, we are hoping to equip them with priceless treasures, preparing good habits and healthy mindsets for life!

CM: One of the best sides of your project is that it doesn’t only connect different people, but whole families. What is there for parents, and what for kids?

Absolutely! The goal is to equip the whole family in this process. Parents are often looking for new and exciting ways to encourage their children to adopt healthy mindsets. Children can become desensitized to the prompting of parents, and resistant to chores, duties, and discussions. We hope that our game will make it FUN for kids to engage daily, while parents are finding ways to use our game as a tool to foster “old” conversations in “new” ways. Plus, children LOVE digging for treasure and finding prizes!

CM: How families interact with each other? Can we talk about their connecting as an added value to the whole concept?

Every day, children are encouraged to write their Monkee Business Journals (posts on Steemit) to explain HOW they performed their tasks. Throughout the week, Spunkee Monkee will post “Secret Questions” that encourage the monkees to go find answers on other monkee’s posts. The hope is that as they learn more about one another, they will leave comments, share ideas, and encourage one another on their journey! Their connection is ABSOLUTELY important! A connection is how communities grow and thrive as a whole. It fosters friendship, loyalty, and support in the very best ways!

CM: Behind every great project is a great roadmap. What are your plans at this moment? How do you see Spunkee Monkee in 2019?

At the end of November, our Alpha Testing (which was incredibly successful thanks to the generous delegations of @aggroed, @paulag, and @derangedvisions) will end. For the month of December, we will be finalizing our website and compiling data from the Alpha Test. We will continue to do some weekly challenges in December to keep our Alpha-Monkees engaged until they can join into the Beta Testing, beginning January 1, 2019. Our developer @wizearch is working hard to produce an amazing website that will thrill all our Monkees. Our artist @jimramones has been delighting me with his amazing designs! We can’t wait to launch some surprises for our Beta-Monkees! Our full-version game is expected to launch in the early half of 2019. This is probably my most anticipated development in the game as this leads to the 3-day Spunkee Monkee Gala event at the end of the year, where 25 Monkee finalists will be invited to compete for the Spunkee Monkee of the Year award!

CM: How people can support you? Is there a space for the crowd contribution? What about other crowdsourcing aspects, besides the crowdfunding one?

Right now, people can support us in the best way possible: SPREADING THE WORD! We want 100 Spunkee Monkee family accounts to help us Beta Test. We would love EXCITED families to be a part of this journey with us and we’d love help finding them! We will be launching a Fundition and Kickstarter campaign in December where people will be able to support our vision with their generous contributions. All help is welcome. Every bit is beneficial and valuable to us!

CM: Do you have any message for our readers? Please keep in mind that some of them probably never heard about Steem or Steemit.

Now is a fantastic time to be learning about cryptocurrency. Many people are intimidated by the concept, but Steemit has been called the “Gateway to Crypto” because it is a practical application where you learn in a hands-on manner how crypto is unpacked. Some people would still say that the concept of Steemit confuses them. I would say, if there is a “Gateway to Steemit”, it could easily be Spunkee Monkee. As families are playing our Spunkee Monkee game and learning how to post their tasks, they will see just how easy it is to earn Steem, engage on a crypto-powered platform, and find that the elusive crypto-currency mystery has become a bit more manageable. Spunkee Monkee will also provide help, tutorials, templates, and other short-cuts in order to ease their transition into the crypto-currency world.

In other words, I hope that they don’t let inexperience or intimidation prevent them from enjoying Spunkee Monkee! As the founder of the Welcome Wagon community (@welcomewagon) on Steemit, I am passionate about making sure that newcomers to the platform have all the tools they need to succeed on Steemit. Spunkee Monkee will be happy to utilize all the tools and training we have in our repertoire to come alongside our Spunkee Monkee families as well!

Thank you for this wonderful conversation @dreemsteem. We believe you are doing the great thing for all of us. The future of the whole blockchain is in the projects like this one, so we wish you good luck and promises to support you in every way we can do. We are also calling you, our dear readers to spread the word and prove that we can do the great things together. Of course, don’t forget to let us know what you think about it.